NORWICH — During his remarks to stakeholders at United Community and Family Service’s 136th annual meeting, agency president Chuck Seeman spoke about the future.

But before that, he referenced the recent past with some pointed remarks aimed at the City Council’s July decision not to waive $50,000 in building permit fees for a $3 million expansion of UCFS’s Town Street complex.

“In saying no to UCFS, they were saying no to the 6,300 residents of Norwich that we serve. They were saying no to improving the health of our community, and they were saying no to one of the largest employers in Norwich,” Seeman said Thursday night at the Hartford Healthcare East System Support Office on Stott Avenue. “As we enter the era of the Affordable Care Act, Norwich was also saying no to those residents who are finally able to secure health insurance.”

Seeman was talking about a July 15 council meeting at which aldermen voted 4-2 against UCFS’s request, saying the $51,898 in fees was a key source of revenue for a city where not many new dollars could be found.

“The waiver of these permit fees would have allowed us to equip at least one additional treatment room. In a year where the City Council found $80,000 to purchase a new chiller for the ice rink, I was sure we would have been successful. That we were not is sobering,” Seeman said. “The message to me and others cannot be denied: The services we provide are not a priority, the jobs we provide are not worthy and the additional jobs being created by our expansion are not supported.”

Republican Mayor Peter Nystrom, who is running for another term, was in favor of waiving the fees, while Democratic alderwoman Deb Hinchey, who is also vying for the mayor’s seat, recused herself because she is a member of the UCFS board of directors.

Once complete, the two-story addition at the Edward and Mary Lord Health Center will lead to the creation of 21 new industry jobs and boost capacity by 48 percent, leaders say.